Vampire 01 - Daughter of Darkness

from time to time provide surprises. Think of how boring it must be for a clairvoyant to know exactly what lies beyond the next minute, the next hour, the next day. If there is indeed a God and he is all-knowing, he must be as bored with his eternal existence as we would be. Never be afraid of the unknown. Cherish it, in fact, the way you cherish the darkness. I like to think that our lives have a rhythm, just the way our hearts have a rhythm, and when it changes for one reason or another, we know something different is coming or has come.” He nodded at Marla.
    I looked at Ava. She wore that smile of superiority, which right now I felt like slapping off her face.
    “Changes require changes,” Daddy continued. He brought his hands together and held them against hischest. “I’ve decided that in two weeks’ time, we will be leaving this house.” He paused and nodded at Ava. “Ava will not be leaving with us. She’ll be leaving, but she won’t be going where we’re going. In this new home,” he added, now looking at Marla and me, “you will eventually have a new baby sister.”
    “Oh, that’s wonderful, Daddy,” Marla said before I could make a comment. “I was just dreaming that I would have a baby sister to help care for.”
    “Were you? How prescient. That’s a very good indicator of good things to come for you as well as for us,” Daddy told her.
    She practically went up in flames with her burst of pride.
    “Why are we leaving so soon, Daddy?” I asked just as Mrs. Fennel entered. She paused with our food on a tray and looked at me angrily. Couldn’t I even ask that?
    “We’re not running from anything or anyone, if that’s what you think, Lorelei,” he said. “It has nothing to do with what happened here.”
    “No, I wasn’t thinking that. I just wondered.”
    “Your father knows instinctively when it is best for us to go,” Mrs. Fennel said.
    Even Ava and Marla were surprised that she had answered for Daddy.
    “I know. I just wondered why,” I said.
    “It’s not for you to wonder why,” Mrs. Fennel replied.
    “I can’t wait to leave this place and this school, Daddy,” Marla said. “There’s nothing like starting somewhere new. Like you’ve told us often, live as if each day is the beginning of your life.”
    “Exactly,” Daddy said, pleased. He looked at me with concern.
    “I have no reason to want to stay,” I said quickly, thinking that might be the right thing to say. “Do you know where we’ll be going yet?”
    He smiled, but it wasn’t as warm a smile as I usually received from him. “Of course I do, Lorelei. You need not worry about anything.”
    “Lorelei is the worrier in our family, Daddy,” Ava said, keeping her eyes fixed on me.
    “A little worry is a good thing,” Daddy said. Mrs. Fennel began to serve our dinner. “But you mustn’t ever let anything take control of you or interfere with what you must do and who you must be. The road is littered with those who do,” he added. He smiled at all of us and then at the roast Mrs. Fennel had prepared in her own special way.
    Never before had Daddy’s words frightened me, but there was something in his tone that sent a chill down my spine. That plus Ava’s intense study of my every move, every reaction, stole away my appetite, but I ate anyway to hide it.
    I was actually relieved to hear that Daddy was going out after dinner, and we wouldn’t, as we often did, spend a few hours with him listening to music, talking, and dancing. I was afraid of anything else Ava might say about me, and it did bother me that Daddy was looking at Marla with more interest and love than he had when he looked at me.
    All three of us went to our rooms, but not before I saw Marla and Ava whispering in the hallway. I triedto read to keep myself busy and not think about all the changes that would soon be thrust upon me, but I did not stop. Ava was right. I was the worrier in the family. I even worried that worrying too much would, as Daddy warned, prevent me from doing what I had to do and being who I had to be.
    A few hours later, as I was beginning to prepare for bed, Ava came to my room. She rarely knocked on my door, but this time, she seemed to slip in with deliberate silence, as if she had expected to catch me doing something wrong. I had no idea how long she had been there staring at me when I looked up and saw her.
    “Must you sneak up on me like that, Ava?”
    “I wonder why you don’t sense me there. I